Building a seamless shopping experience across devices

The importance of mobile devices has never been clearer: each week, tens of millions of people use Google Shopping and Google search on their mobile phones, generating hundreds of millions of searches. And many of these people are looking for product information; 76% of shoppers use the web to research purchases and 57% of people use mobile devices to help them shop smarter.

We want to give you the best answers quickly, regardless of the device you use. We’ve worked hard to make it easier for you to find the product information you need, whether you’re at home or on the go, using Google Shopping and Google Search. And we’re happy that you’re finding it easier to discover and research products, and to find where to buy those products online or in-store at the best price. For example, we’ve introduced 360-degree product imagery, Shortlists and more relevant reviews.

We want to focus our efforts on Google Shopping and Google Search, to create a better, more consistent shopping experience across all devices. To help us focus on that goal, we’ll be shutting down the standalone Google Shopper app on August 30.

Going forward, you can search directly on Google (or use the Google Search app on mobile devices) or visit google.com/shopping in any browser. Our best features are there: you can compare prices, shop on the go, find a product in stock locally, check out product photos, read reviews or find product details. You’ll find more than a billion products, from over one hundred thousand sellers -- including 10,000 new merchants and marketplaces in the past three months.  

Thank you for using the standalone Google Shopper app. We hope that you’ll keep searching with Google to get exactly the answers you need to shop smarter across the web, and we look forward to sharing some great things we have coming on mobile for the holidays!

Posted by Sameer Samat, VP, Google Shopping

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From clipping to clicking – new research looks at the future of coupons

For a generation, clip-and-save coupons in freestanding newspaper inserts (FSIs) were the norm for shoppers. But with the introduction of downloadable, print-at-home, and digital coupons in recent years, shoppers today have a whole new array of options to receive and redeem better, more relevant discount offers -- whether at home or on the go. Internet marketing research firm eMarketer estimates that mobile coupon users will grow to 53.2 million by 2014.

Zavers by Google, the digital coupon solution that delivers relevant discount offers to shoppers on their desktops and mobile devices, completed a study with Shopper Sciences to dive into the current state of couponing, the potential of digital and mobile couponing, and to provide guidance in developing a strategy for the future.  

The Zavers study found that while women and moms have traditionally been the typical coupon user, men are quickly catching up -- now representing about a third of all coupon users across all categories.

Millennials also signify an expanding segment of the digital coupon market. According to our research, Millennials are more likely to use a mobile device to receive a percentage-off discount than any other age group. Millennials are also more likely to embrace digital solutions that help them manage coupons and offers.

Finally, our studies revealed that more than 40% of shoppers have left a retail store without purchasing because they knew they left a coupon at home. 54% percent of shoppers said that the ability to load digital coupons to a loyalty card or personal identifier (such as a smart phone) was “very” or “extremely useful.”  The data suggests that consumers value the ability to easily access their coupons whenever and wherever they are.

There are three key things that retailers and manufacturers can do to create a winning couponing program in the digital age:

1. Recognize the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) -- the moment when a shopper is searching online for products and information -- as a key opportunity for delivering relevant and tailored coupons.
2. Set up cloud-based redemption and reconciliation so coupons can be tracked and cleared in real time and promotions can be evaluated and adjusted quickly.

3. Understand your customer purchase habits and reward your best customers with motivating incentives.

Preview the below to learn more about the Zavers by Google coupon study, or download the complete white paper.

Posted by Jenny Liu, Product Marketing Manager, Zavers by Google

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Discover offers with Google and save on the go

People are often looking for places to eat, shop and play - whether it's on their computer, tablet or phone. They also enjoy saving money at these places, especially when it’s convenient. We’re now making it easier than ever to discover great offers as you use Google products and browse the web, save them instantly to your Google account, and redeem easily with your phone when you visit the store.

You can now find offers when you're looking for places in the latest Google Maps app for Android and iOS, searching on Google.com, and browsing the web. And, as always, you can continue to find offers on the Offers site, and in the Offers and Wallet apps.

If you find an offer you want, like a free appetizer at your favorite restaurant, you can easily save it to your Google account. The next time you’re at the restaurant, just show the offer on your phone screen to redeem. No need to hassle with clipping paper coupons, purchasing vouchers in advance, or forgetting your coupons at home.

Discover and redeem offers easily in the new Google Maps app
With the new Google Maps app, you can easily find nearby offers. When you search for a restaurant or store in the app, you’ll see a blue tag icon near the business name or next to its pin on the map if they have an offer available. Simply swipe the place info sheet up to get more details on the business, and tap on the offer to use it immediately in store or save to your Google account to use later.

Find offers while searching on Google
You can also discover great savings on what you're searching for with offers on Google search ads. Simply click or tap the 'Get offer' button to save the offer and use it in stores.

See relevant offers on your favorite websites
Now while browsing some of your favorite websites around the web, you will find relevant offers as ads. If you’re on a website and see an offer you like, all you have to do is click on the ‘Get offer’ button to save it.

No matter where you’ve found the offers, once they are saved to your Google account you can easily access them on the go with the Offers app or the new Google Maps app. And if you want to get the latest offers from some of your favorite brands, you can follow them on Google+ to see all of the offers they share directly on your stream. You can save an offer directly from the post or share it with your circles.

We're excited to partner with many great brands, including Cosi, Michaels Stores, RadioShack, Red Mango, Red Robin, and Ulta Beauty. And more offers are coming soon from brands like Toys"R"Us, Sports Authority, BJ’s Restaurant, Macy’s, Disney Store, and Payless Shoesource.

To download the Google Offers app, visit Google Play for Android or the App Store for iOS. You can also learn more about Offers at google.com/offers/consumer. Happy saving!

Posted by Gayathri Rajan, Director of Product Management, Google Offers

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Shop and save with Google Wallet on popular Android apps and mobile sites.

Recall the last time you tried shopping on your phone? Typically, the experience is cumbersome, requiring you to register accounts and type in your billing and shipping information again and again. But shopping shouldn’t be about typing, it should be about, well... shopping. That’s why we’re excited to invite you to try Google Wallet so you can buy your favorite things easily and quickly on your smartphone.

With Google Wallet it’s already easy to purchase content on some of your favorite Google services. Now you can make purchases on popular Android apps and mobile sites in as few as two clicks — just look for the 'Buy with Google' button at checkout. Your information is securely applied so you don’t have to type 16-digit credit card numbers over and over again.

To get started:

1. Update your payment information at wallet.google.com if you haven’t purchased with Google Wallet recently.
2. Shop at any of the Android apps or mobile sites below (use your Google account to sign in or register for many of them).
3. At checkout, choose the ‘Buy with Google’ button and select your payment card saved in Google Wallet.

For a limited time only — look for these exclusive offers when paying with Google Wallet. Offer terms may vary; see full details on the merchant checkout pages.


You can download these Android apps listed below from the Google Play store.

$20 off  your next purchase (Android app)	10% off  your next hotel booking (Android app)	$20 off  your next purchase (Android app)	$15 off  your next purchase (Android app & mobile site)
$20 off  Express Deal Hotels (Android app)	$25 credit  on your next purchase (Android app)	$7 off  your next purchase (Android app)	$20 off  your first ride (Android app)

Google Wallet is also accepted at many popular sites, such as:


To learn more, please visit our Google Wallet website. For the latest updates on Google Wallet, please subscribe to our +Page.


Posted by Artem Chetverykov & Ruchi Behl, Product Marketing, Google Wallet

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Price Chopper Supermarkets partners with Zavers by Google to reward their most loyal shoppers

Since its launch in January, Zavers by Google has partnered with leading regional supermarkets, like D’Agostino, BI-LO/Winn-Dixie and Associated Food Stores, to reward customers with relevant coupons. The digital coupon solution also helps retailers and manufacturers increase shopper spend and basket size.

Price Chopper, an innovative 81-year-old supermarket chain based in New York, worked with Zavers to engage their loyal shoppers in a new way, and saw significant results. Price Chopper was looking to optimize their coupon marketing campaigns and deliver more effective coupons to their customers’ rewards cards. After researching multiple digital coupon solutions, Price Chopper teamed up with Zavers by Google to seamlessly integrate their website and mobile app with the technology to load coupons directly to customers’ rewards cards.

“Digital coupons make it easier for shoppers to get savings at the moment they’re deciding what to buy. Plus, with automatic redemption at checkout, our cashiers don’t have to spend time scanning paper coupons,” says Heidi Reale, Price Chopper’s Director of Shopper and Digital Marketing.

After implementing Zavers by Google, Price Chopper saw significant gains in basket size, trip frequency, and weekly spend amongst its best customers. Internal analysis revealed that loyal shoppers who spent 50 percent of their share-of-wallet with Price Chopper also represented 43 percent of all their Zavers digital coupon users, which meant that these shoppers make up a valuable segment of their customers.

Furthermore, a Price Chopper comparison analysis of shopper spending habits showed that among shoppers who engaged with Zavers e-coupons, the average total monthly spend of active customers increased by 10 percent.

“We are very happy with the results so far,” Reale says. “We see e-coupons as a way to reward our best shoppers, the ones who spend the most with us and visit us the most. With Zavers by Google, we don’t simply deliver a coupon to someone’s
card. We deliver it more effectively in a way that generates a better ROI for both manufacturers and retailers.”

To learn more about Price Chopper’s success with Zavers by Google, download the full case study. Visit google.com/zavers to learn more about Zavers’ digital couponing solution or contact our sales team at g.co/contact-zavers.

Posted by Jenny Liu, Product Marketing Manager, Zavers by Google

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